As disappointing as it has been for me to not be able to live, train, or fight as I once did... being injured has allowed me to pursue many of the passions that I had pushed aside while I was fighting.

Fortunately I have been presented with a number of interesting offers since my departure from mixed martial arts. I am extremely excited to be a part of 'Voices of the Underground', a collection of pieces being put together by Matt Mcrae. So far committed to being a part of this project are NY Times Best Selling Author TJ. English, Nathan James (Founding member of FSU), Pol Brennan ( I.R.A escapee, political prisoner), Joel Bull (Author, Publisher, HFL), Joel Weston (Accomplished author, poet, and publisher), Toby (H2O), Roger Miret (Agnostic Front), Freddy MADBALL, Lord Ezec (aka Danny Diablo, SH, C.O.T., DMS), and many others.

Three months ago Matt was hit by a drunk driver while out on tour... he broke his back, every bone in his face, all of his ribs, suffered serious brain trauma, and was in a coma for an extended period of time. Although Matt was not supposed to survive the crash or be able to walk ever again, I am proud to say that he is now up and walking with the aid of a walker. He is also working extremely hard at putting this book together despite everything that he is going through.  

I knew that I wanted to be a part of this book when Matt explained the importance and message behind it all to me. He told me that 'this is something that has the potential to change people's lives, to inspire. This is the kind of book that will have something for everyone. The kind of book that someone will sit down and read from cover to cover and then go back to the beginning and read it again. This book will open people's minds, teach them new things, and let them know they are not alone...'

This will be something special, and I am honored to contribute what little I can to this project.

I was also very fortunate to be a part of the 'Breakout' television series, a program dedicated to documenting and depicting real-life prison escapes. The series will will air in the UK at the end of this year, and then be shown on the Discovery and History Channel here in North America sometime early in 2010.  

My brother and long time friend Junior were selected to be inmates in the first two episodes. We were sent to wardrobe around 8am and given two sets of uniforms for the different episodes we were going to shoot. We were given breakfast and directed to stay 'in character' throughout the day... a feat that was not much of a problem as we all enjoy working out, playing cards, and being the center of attention around one another from time to time.

Junior and Brad were given more intense roles than myself, but... I am pretty excited to see and hear myself chumming it up with the boys on the big screen, ok, television screen ha ha. Junior and Brad share a number of pivotal scenes and dialogue with the lead in episode one, and Brad and I get to tip-off the lead in episode 2 on how to escape the prison (with a combination of green and blue jolly ranchers fyi). We also learned how to play dominoes and a number of card games while in the slammer.

Overall it was a great experience. We got to sneak around the prison during breaks and scenes that didn't involve us and witness some of the strangest and most intense things I have seen in a long time... being locked in a dingy cell for 23 hours a day with thousands of restless men would be an experience I would rather not experience without the cameras.

Here are a few pictures of our day 'on set'.

The prison.

Brad eating complementary grub.

Junior doing a set of pull-ups.

Prison Issued vellys.

Junk, JR, ZOLA.

Hanging out in my cell.

ZOLA, JR, myself on break and 'in character' ha ha

Me and Jr.

Again...

'Parsons' getting a meal. He is the main character in the second episode.

Dinner is served... still shooting upstairs.

Bubs AKA 'The boss'. "Day to day politics... you are out of bounds"